Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s applications to the court for liability and charging orders against him for non-payment of business rates. We also cannot determine if Mr X was or is eligible for small business rates relief or, therefore, say he is not liable for the business rates owed. We cannot therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council continues to hold him liable for business rates at two non-domestic properties despite not visiting the property to confirm his claim that they are occupied. Mr X believes he is entitled to small business rate relief for the premises and that he should not therefore have to pay business rates. He is unhappy the Council has applied for a Charging Order against the premises in respect of the debts it says he owes.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Mr X complained to us in 2021 because, amongst other things, the Council had applied for a liability order against him for non-payment of business rates. We declined to investigate this complaint and will not revisit that decision now.
8. Mr X has complained to us now because the Council has issued him further bills and taken action at court for non-payment of business rates. He believes he is entitled to small business rates relief for his premises but the Council considers them empty and says Mr X must pay the business rates in full.
9. We cannot decide if Mr X is entitled to small business rates relief; we are not an appeal body. Mr X’s argument centres around his claimed “occupation” of the premises and it is not for us to seek to interpret the legislation to determine if the occupation he claims is sufficient. Mr X believes the Council should visit his premises to assess his claim but it is his responsibility to prove the premises are occupied if he wishes to claim the relief. The Council has requested evidence from him on this point but Mr X has not provided anything which persuades it that he is entitled to the relief. The Council’s decision is a matter of professional judgement and without any evidence of fault in the process we cannot question the decision.
10. The Council has now applied to the court for further liability orders against Mr X. Liability orders are formal documents issued by the court which confirm that the person named owes the debt listed in the order.
11. Mr X says he did not receive any summonses relating to the Council’s applications to the court and claims he has never received copies of the liability orders. But we cannot say this invalidates the liability orders or that Mr X should not pay the amounts the court confirms he owes.
12. We also cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s application for the liability orders for the reason set out at Paragraph 4 and we have no power to overturn them. If Mr X believes the Council did not follow the proper process in obtaining the liability orders, and if he disputes liability for the debts, he should apply to the court to set them aside.
13. The Council has now applied to the court for a charging order which, if successful, would place a charge on his property for the amount the Council says he owes. Because the law says we cannot investigate the start of court action or what happened in court, we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about its application for the charging order.

Back to top

Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot decide if Mr X is entitled to small business rates relief or say he is not liable for the business rates listed in the liability orders granted by the court. We also cannot investigate any complaint about the Council’s applications for the liability or charging orders which form the basis of this complaint. We cannot therefore achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman